I would be remiss if I did not mention the fourth strongest earthquake ever recorded. As luck would have it, I was on shore when the earthquake started. It took me a minute to figure out what was happening. My first indication was the power being shut off. That was actually quite annoying because I was writing an email to my ship at the time. Then the building started shaking. I live on the second floor so the shaking was a little more pronounced, but I could not help thinking about the people up on the tenth floor.
What started to get scary was when the shaking did not stop. It went on for about five minutes while I was trying to decide if it was worth the risk to try going down the stairs to the outside. I ended up just standing in a door frame. One of the reasons I chose my current apartment was because it was a new building with modern amenities and features. The Japanese people are the best in the world at designing earthquake proof buildings. None of my belongings were moved so much as an inch. However, I was outside when the aftershocks started with a number of other Americans.
We all started commenting about the possibility of tsunamis, thinking about what had happened in Indonesia not all that long ago. We had no idea where the earthquake had occurred. All the power was stilled knocked out along with cell phones. Not long after warning sirens started going off. They were impossible to understand at first but then they started making announcements in English and I heard the word "tsunami."
My building also happens to be built at the top of a hill, making it one of the highest structures in Yokosuka. I was not concerned about being in a flood zone so much as my friends still on base. Luckily the naval base is situated inside of a well protected harbor behind several natural land breaks. Those breaks absorbed the waves before they reached any "naval assets." The initial news reports coming out right after the tsunami hit were correct about all assets being accounted for.
Most of the town was without power all night. The base went on emergency power so they never lost the ability to operate. I thought it lucky that the earthquake happened on a Friday afternoon because that meant I did not have any reason to report to base until Monday. On the other hand, the fact that I was stuck at my apartment without power and cell service made it impossible for me to be contacted and accounted for.
I decided to try and get some sleep after the aftershocks slowed down and wait until morning to plan my next move. The power was restored at some point during the early morning and cell phone service was restored. After recharging my cell phone, I found no less than half a dozen calls from my ship. Evidently I was one of the last people to check back in so the ship was worried about what might have happened to me. When I restarted my computer, my email showed a number of people, including my parents, trying to contact me.
Most commands had their people return to base for a muster but mine remained out at sea. I was curious if the ship would return to base to make sure everyone was all right. The CURTIS WILBUR ended up staying at anchor and was then reassigned to help in the rescue missions. They left me behind on base to finish my damage control class. I was not sure what to think, since coming to Japan I had never been separated from my ship for more than about a week. A rescue mission was going to take much more time than that before it was complete.
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